EDITORIAL
As the world celebrates International Women's Day today, Thailand has many achievements to be proud of. It is now one of only a few countries with a woman as head of government. The number of women in senior management at 39% is also among the highest in the world given that the global average is only 21%.
This goes to show that _ despite the cultural social values aimed at holding women back as "the elephant's hind leg" _ women still manage to shine in the professional world outside the home spheres if given the opportunity.
Thailand allowed women to gain a university education only 82 years ago. Despite similar university degrees to their male counterparts, women in those days were barred from entering male-dominated professions. Many of them became pioneers in women's rights. Thanks to their dedication, gender equality is now enshrined in the constitution. Nobody raises an eyebrow now on seeing women as judges, physicians, governors, pilots, police officers, soldiers, permanent secretaries and ministers. Two years ago, people believed the one thing women could not do was be elected as prime minister. That belief has now been shed.
If we use the number of women in senior management and high-paying professions as a criterion to gauge women's status, however, Thailand still faces huge challenges ahead. Government and politics, for example, are still largely male domains. There are only two women in the Yingluck III cabinet. In parliament, women make up 15% of MPs and 16% of senators. Women also account for only 17% of senior civil service positions although women outnumber men in the state bureaucracy. At the local level, women constitute only about 9% of elected officials, according to UN Women.
Also, we cannot deny that the "successful" women are largely the well-to-do with better access to education, job opportunities and stronger networks of support.
Thailand's remarkable economic growth and progress is marked by an appalling wealth gap and social disparity. It is the same story with women's advancement here. Educated women in mainstream society may have a better chance of bridging the gap with men in the same social and economic strata, but the gap between women of different class and ethnicities grows ever wider.
Meanwhile, women across social classes are facing the same gender discrimination, although the less fortunate have fewer tools to protect themselves. Over 40% of women reported having experienced physical/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or people they know, according to a study in 2005. Few seek professional help because of a lack of counselling services and fear of social stigma. Meanwhile, the punishing legal procedures dominated by patriarchal values discourage the sexually abused from seeking redress.
The cultural values that demand women's submission and divides them into good and bad women are also perpetuating other forms of violence against women. More than one-third of women who are HIV positive say they caught it from their partners. The inability to negotiate safe sex for fear of being looked down on as bad girls has made the teen pregnancy rate here the worst in Asia. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 women die each year from complications caused by incomplete abortions as a result of the fierce policy refusal to allow safe terminations of unplanned pregnancies.
Thailand should be proud of its achievements in women's advancement, but it should not be blind to the challenges ahead in uprooting the sexist cultural values that keep women down.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/03/08/uproot-sexist-cultural-values/
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